


The Unequal Equation

by sg_wonderland



Series: Washington Afterlife [6]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 17:39:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18721819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sg_wonderland/pseuds/sg_wonderland
Summary: Sam and Jack walk and talk





	The Unequal Equation

“So, how are things?” Jack tugged BJ's leash away from the Henderson's azaleas.

Sam sighed heavily. “You and Daniel make it look so easy.”

“Carter?” He asked perplexed.

“It helps that David is in the program, you know? But it's still hard to try to figure out some kind of a life.”

“Carter, I thought I was asking about the SGC.”

“Sorry....I just...I guess I just need to talk to someone.”

“Daniel will be home for dinner,” Jack offered with a note of desperation. “Maybe you should wait and talk to him.”

“Oh, I intend to. But I...you and Daniel...”

“We don't fit into any nice easily explained equation?” He took her arm. “We cross here.” They entered the dog park and Jack let BJ off his leash before motioning toward a bench. “I hope you're not asking me for romance advice because...”

“I'll talk to Daniel tonight but right now you're all I've got.” She was nothing if not persistent.

Jack frowned then leaned back on the bench. “Do you know where Daniel is right now? He's at the Smithsonian, giving a lecture on the care of Egyptian antiquities, a word I never thought I would ever use correctly and frequently. I would walk through fire for him and he knows that but he didn't ask me to come to this lecture because he knows I would rather set my hair on fire than listen to two hours of that.”

“I...okay...”

“We don't live in each other's pockets, Carter. All these romance movies and books talk about being open and honest with each other and all that crap. But the reality is that there are things I don't talk to him about, I won't talk about. And there are places in his past that I don't get to go.”

Sam remembered after the gamekeeper, she had tried to get Daniel to talk about his parents and he'd shut her down. Hard. “Boundaries. I get that.”

“That doesn't mean we don't know what's behind those doors that we won't open. Daniel kinda knows what I did, I know how his folks died. We decided a long time ago that knowing was enough for us. It isn't enough for some people but it works for us.”

“You have to have some things in common.”

“We work at finding things we can share, the operative word being 'work'. We both think people should be treated fairly, that the color of their skin or who they love or where their fathers were born, those things shouldn't make a difference.”

“You guys used to fight a lot in the old days.”

“We were two stubborn sons of bitches who didn't always back down when we should. And it cost us. A lot. Daniel probably more than me, if I'm being honest. We just don't think it's worth it anymore.” Jack stopped to pet a beautiful golden retriever. “Nobody knows how much time we have left so we just got tired of jacking around and wasting it. I could spend all day at the Air and Space Museum but Daniel...”

“Would rather set his hair on fire?” Sam said.

Jack chuckled. “Repeatedly.”

“But....,” Sam fumbled. “You two don't exactly add up.”

“Life isn't a mathematical equation, Carter. And love damn sure isn't. We work because we love each other and we work at it. Now can we talk about something else?”

She sighed; she supposed she was lucky to have gotten that much out of him. “I'll go a round with Daniel tonight.”

Jack snapped his fingers. “Not tonight. There's a party down at the clubhouse. It's college night.”

“College night?” She stood as he called BJ over, leashed him and they started walking home.

“Every summer, they have a party to celebrate the kids who got into college.”

“Maybe I'll just stay at the house.”

“Oh, you can't. One of them, Landee, got into the Academy. Smart girl. She's gonna want to pick your brain. And you have to help me fend off Daniel's admirers. Some of the neighbors think he's very attractive. Of course, they're right.”

“You're not so bad yourself, sir.” Sam could swear he was blushing.

“Just for that, you can run interference for me with Mrs. Jacobs.”

“Absolutely, sir. It'll be just like old times.”


End file.
